Locations in Soulslike games are an integral piece of the puzzle that sometimes get overlooked. While combat and its related progression systems are the main, tangiblehook of most Soulslikes, their environments are almost just as important, working hand in hand with enemy placement, loot placement, and art direction to give the game a definitive atmosphere and tone. In many Soulslikes, the locations can be the stars of the show, and that’s the case for quite a few areas inAnother Crab’s Treasure.
Throughout the course ofAnother Crab’s Treasure’s 15-20 hour runtime, players will venture to a number of different locales, all of which lean playfully into the game’s underwater premise, while still borrowing plenty of classic Soulslike conventions. There’s a medieval-themed area, some corrupted settlements, and even a poison swamp or two. All of these locations inAnother Crab’s Treasurestand out for their great visual design, level design, and integration with the game’s story, and that’s especially true for the city of New Carcinia.
Another Crab’s Treasure’s New Carcinia Has a Surprising Amount of Depth
New Carcinia Is a Hub of In-Game Activity
Unlike anything players have encountered up until this point,Another Crab’s Treasure’s New Carciniais a bustling hive of activity. A town made out of trash like plastic bottles, cocktail umbrellas, and playing cards, New Carcinia is filled with NPCs and an assortment of makeshift skyscrapers that players can’t go in. When players first arrive in the town, they’re given the objective of finding three vendors, all of which will become frequent stop-gaps in the player’s journey.
On the top layer of New Carcinia, players will find a shop that sells new types of shells, along withShell Insurancefor each one, allowing the player to spawn with that shell after death. On the lower level of New Carcinia, players will find the blacksmith who will upgrade their melee weapon. This level is also home to a shop that sells unique Stowaways, and can increase the player’s Stowaway capacity. But there’s far more to the city of New Carcinia than its in-game usefulness.
New Carcinia’s Political Themes Explained
Not just the hub ofAnother Crab’s Treasure’s in-game stores, the city of New Carcinia is also the hub of the game’s political commentary and themes. Of course, the most obvious commentary associated with New Carcinia is pollution, a core theme and message for the entire game. In the world ofAnother Crab’s Treasure, ocean pollution has become so prevalent that undersea creatures are using microplastics as currency, and large pieces of human trash to build their homes. New Carcinia is a city built on human trash, and a city that actively celebrates something called “Trash Day,” when a floating island of garbage rains junk on them from above.
While it likely derives in most part from the constellation Cancer (known as Karkinos in the original Greek) and the Carcinus genus of crabs, New Carcinia’s name could also be interpreted as a play on the word “carcinogen”, a cancerous organism or substance, which shares roots with these crustacean terms.
New Carcinia also reinforcesAnother Crab’s Treasure’s commentaries on the dangers of capitalism, with the entire town being obsessed with the idea of wealth to the point where it’s all anyone can talk about, and it’s clearly all that anyone cares about. Linked closely to this isAnother Crab’s Treasure’s commentarieson classism, which are found mostly in New Carcinia. The city of New Carcinia is split into two distinct areas: an upper city, and a lower city. While the upper city is built atop a colorful coral reef and sees plastic bottle and milk carton skyscrapers reaching high into the air, the lower city is dark and dingy, and is made up from cardboard boxes that are slowly wasting away.
This commentary is continued in the way that the citizens of each part of New Carcinia refer to and treat one another, with those from the upper level believing themselves to be better educated and more sophisticated than those below. As a nice little cherry on top,Another Crab’s Treasureeven names this top level of New Carcinia the “Upper Crust.”
Another Crab’s Treasure
WHERE TO PLAY
As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell, and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean.TRASH OR TREASURE?In this undersea society, trash is not only a way of life, but a valuable resource, used for everything from fashion to firearms. But with the presence of trash comes a mysterious infection known as the Gunk, which could spell doom for the entire ocean.LEARN FROM NATUREAs Kril explores the ocean, he’ll gain a variety of Umami Techniques—powerful attacks learned from the denizens of the seas. Punch your enemies with the overwhelming might of a Mantis Shrimp, ensnare them with the horrifying Bobbit Worm, and much more.UNEXPLORED DEPTHSThe ocean goes deeper than one can imagine. Fight your way through kelp forests, coral reefs, sand castle cities, and even the unfathomable darkness of the deep-sea trenches, all in the name of getting back your prized shell.
